I was just Sam before I decided to become “SwagSam.”
Hi, my name’s Sam Kabert and I’m with ValueBP Marketing Group. We put logos on things; we’re also a woman-owned business and certified through the organization WBENC. I sit on the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce board of directors, co-host a podcast, and co-chair the Silicon Valley Young Professionals… bored yet?
Let’s try this again.
I’m SwagSam, but before I was SwagSam I created a company called CHICO FEET that sold Neet Feet sandals to build brand awareness for my company that sold B2B promotional products and created enough buzz for the founder of Sierra Nevada to know exactly who I am.
Is that better?
Here’s a bit more on how I started and the plan for the SwagSam brand...
Chico Feet
In the town of Chico, CA the phrase “Chico Feet” is known by all – whether it's a Chico local or a college student. Chico Feet essentially means the bottom of your foot is dirty from walking around barefoot. Chico is very much a party school and a college town but the term doesn't just mean it's from drunk college kids playing around on a slip and slide while day drinking. It extends so much further than that. There are so many great outdoor adventures in and around Chico including floating on the river, exploring various water holes, the rope swing and so much more. You can totally get Chico Feet without drinking at all. So, it extends to the whole town of 80,000+ people.
In 2011, as a college intern, I created my first business “CHICO FEET.” We sold CHICO FEET branded sandals (from Neet Feet) to build brand awareness and I called on companies leveraging that brand awareness to sell promotional products to businesses. The sandals were just a tool, really.
For the complete, CHICO FEET story click here.
Value Business Products
I grew up in Gilroy, CA (just south of Silicon Valley), a small farm town known as “The Garlic Capital of the World.” (Yes, I’ve had garlic ice cream and it’s quite good — if you’re at the annual Garlic Festival on a hot 100-degree day. Otherwise…
Back in 1980, my dad started an office supply company, going door to door selling and repairing typewriters. Over time, Value Business Products became a brick and mortar office supply store, transitioned to e-commerce office supply store, turned woman-owned when my mom took ownership and most recently added ValueBP, our promotional products division that I oversee. We’ve seen a lot over the years and have adjusted accordingly but the main constant is that we are still a small, family-owned company that will have anywhere from one to four golden retrievers in the office at any given time.
Surviving Silicon Valley as a Non-Techie
This title is something I could write a whole book on. Over the past year I’ve been drawn to the whole concept of the “Glitz and Glamour of Silicon Valley” vs. the “Hustle and Grind of Silicon Valley.”
In a nutshell, Silicon Valley is the tech version of Hollywood. People look at Silicon Valley and see the #1 tech city in the world; they see the the HBO hit show “Silicon Valley” portraying this region to be a massive hub for techies and start-ups and the overall vibe one thinks when thinking of Silicon Valley is progressive as it relates to technology.
While this is true, it is not everything we are. I’ve been networking in Silicon Valley since 2012 and when I say “networking” this is what I mean: I’ve been on the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce board of directors for four years, chaired the Silicon Valley Young Professionals for three years, and graduated from Leadership Santa Clara just to name a few examples. I don’t believe in just attending networking events. The real business gets done by being on committees or, even better, a board level.
However, I have met very few execs who are in the technology space from my time networking. Sure, it’s to be expected that when attending a networking event you’ll meet realtors, insurance agents, and even MLM practitioners. But at a board level in Silicon Valley, shouldn’t I be meeting tech execs left and right? Not from my experience. I live in what I call the “Hustle and Grind of Silicon Valley.” We are very much just like any other part of the U.S. We represent the small business entrepreneurial spirit and mindset. We still have some tech companies and larger corporations on the boards and in networking but it’s not like “Silicon Valley” the show.
For whatever reason a young professional who put himself through law school and started his own practice in Silicon Valley does not get the respect of someone who starts a company that is even remotely technology based. Crazy, right? It’s impressive for anyone to be an entrepreneur but in Silicon Valley you don’t really get noticed if you’re not in tech.
So without planning on becoming “SwagSam” to get noticed, I am slowly becoming my “SwagSam” persona to… get noticed.
The Podcast
The WhatUp Silicon Valley Podcast is a weekly podcast a friend and I began in January of 2017 that focuses on business news, networking events and sports. We do cover some of the glitz and glamour of Silicon Valley but our real focus is on the daily hustle and grind. Identity Marketing’s UnScripted, with Bill Petrie and Kirby Hasseman, along with PromoKitchen and skucast were major inspirations for our podcast. But that was only part of it.
I am obsessed with Fantasy Football and this past season I went a bit overboard with my obsession, listening to Sirius XM radio to no end to get the latest NFL news. Once the season was over I had to find something to fill the void and that “something” became podcasts. The first time I listened to any of the three podcasts mentioned above was only after football season was over. I was so impressed by the quality of the shows and how much closer I felt to knowing these people that I knew I had to do something similar to have a similar connection with others similarly. I enlisted the help of my good friend Sergio Oliveri.
Sergio is not in the promotional products industry. He is an entrepreneur (freelance graphic designer), in tech sales by day, worked at the Convention Visitors Bureau for eight years, and my co-chair of the Silicon Valley Young Professionals. Fast forward six months later we have the feature image on the cover story of the Silicon Valley Business Journal. This is HUGE.
Two years ago our company, Value Business Products, was celebrating its 35th anniversary. Despite our growth from a one-person typewriter repair business to what it is today, press releases I sent and walked into the Silicon Valley Business Journal were ignored. (Can you tell I have a chip on my shoulder?)
Well, I’m beyond proud and appreciative now to have a story in the Business Journal and I credit it to my personal brand… “SwagSam.”
I’ll soon be launching a new website that will support a weekly blog and podcast for the SwagSam brand, focused on the “Silicon Valley Hustle” with tips relating to health/wellness, balancing networking/biz and a personal life and of course, “SWAG.” But not just swag as in promo items — how to have success with swagger… thus “Success with Swag(ger). This is my plan moving forward to get noticed and survive in Silicon Valley as a non-techie.
Here are three actionable tips you can apply to your personal brand regardless of where you might live and where you are in your career:
Passions: What are you passionate about? I didn’t talk about it too much in this specific post, but it’s obvious to those around you what you are passionate about. For me at an office supply convention my peers could tell I didn’t have passion for office supplies, but they saw the passion I have for “SWAG” thus nick-naming me “SwagSam.”.
Expertise: What do you know? Who do others perceive you as? What knowledge can you share with the world? Ask yourself these questions and your friends for that matter and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised with the answers.
Your Secret Sauce: If you know what you are passionate about and you identify what areas you have expertise in you are bound to find your secret sauce. There’s a middle ground where your passions meet your expertise… that is your secret sauce.
Now, “Begin at Once”...
Sam Kabert is the creative director of ValueBP Marketing Group and the creator and co-host of the podcast “WhatUp Silicon Valley!” A risk taker who embraces permanent beta, Sam is leading the transformation of his family-run office supplies business into a promotional products powerhouse. Sam can be reached at Sam@ValueBP.com.